POLICE SAY BOY RAPED MENTALLY RETARDED STUDENT

A 14-year-old boy pulled a mentally retarded girl into a boys' bathroom at South Broward High School on Thursday morning and raped her, a police spokesman said.

The 17-year-old victim, who has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old, told a teacher about the attack immediately after it happened. When detectives questioned the boy, he confessed, Lt. Tony Rode said.

"He said he knew she was retarded. He said he knew what he did was wrong," Rode said.

The boy, who is not being identified because of his age, was charged with sexual battery on a mentally deficient victim and is at the Juvenile Intervention Facility in Fort Lauderdale. Prosecutor Maria Schneider said she needs to examine the police report and the boy's history before she can decide whether to charge him as an adult or a juvenile.

It was unclear on Friday whether it was normal for the girl, who is in the school's exceptional student education program, to walk the halls alone or whether she should have had an aide with her.

"If she's mentally deficient, if she has the mental capacity of a 6- or 7-year-old, would you let this kid walk out of the class?" Rode said. "We don't know if she was going to the bathroom or what. ... Maybe there should have been more supervision."

Joe Donzelli, a spokesman for the school district, declined to comment.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss the matter," he said. "It's too early in our investigation to talk about it."

The boy has been living since October with a 75-year-old foster mother he calls "Grandmother."

The woman said he was born in California addicted to cocaine and that both of his parents died when he was very young. He stayed with relatives in Florida for a while, but they eventually gave him up to the state Department of Children & Families.

According to the woman, the boy is saying he did not rape the girl. She said she could not say for sure whether he was telling the truth.

"I don't know if I can say that because I don't know [him] that well," she said. "But if he said he didn't do it, I guess I can take his word. And the girl's saying he did do it, so her parents can take her word."

The boy has been in trouble for stealing bicycles, being late to class and getting into fights at school, the foster mother said.

A group of parents and students who were outside the school on Friday said they were disgusted by the allegations but not necessarily worried about the safety of other children.

"He just took advantage of her," said senior Brenda Zarate, 18. "She's slow, so he thought he could get away with it."

Aida DeJesus, the mother of a sophomore, was reluctant to blame school officials.

"I feel like when my daughter's in school, they're responsible for her...but I don't know how they could have stopped it unless [the girl] was retarded to the point where she really shouldn't have been going alone."

Staff Writer Lisa Huriash contributed to this report.

Shannon O'Boye can be reached at soboye@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4597.